holism

See also: -holism

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From hol- (“whole, entire, total”) +‎ -ism. Coined in 1926 by Jan Smuts.[1]

Noun

holism (countable and uncountable, plural holisms)

  1. A theory or belief that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. [from 1926]
  2. A practice based on such a theory or belief.

Derived terms

Translations
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See also

References
  1. Jan Smuts (1926), chapter V, in Holism and Evolution, pages 87–88:
    Both matter and life consist of unit structures whose ordered grouping produces natural wholes which we call bodies or organisms. This character of “wholeness” meets us everywhere and points to something fundamental in the universe. Holism (from ὅλος = whole) is the term here coined for this fundamental operative towards the creation of wholes in the universe.

Further reading
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